Gubbeen
Giana and Tom Ferguson have been making Gubbeen in West Cork since the late seventies. As a child in Spain, Giana's family had made cheese from goat’s milk on her father's small farm in the mountains above Alora. Later, living in France Giana was brought into contact with the great French cheeses. Marrying into a farming family in Ireland where some of the best milk in Europe is produced, Giana and her husband Tom experimented and produced their own cottage cheeses and fresh cheeses. They soon met other cheesemakers working both in West Cork and nationally; this developed into CAIS, the Irish Farmhouse Cheesemakers Association. Tom and Giana Ferguson currently make the cheese.
The Gubbeen herd is out earlier than most Irish farms as they are influenced by the Gulf Stream bringing in warm winds and early grass. In the Summer, their herd grazes the pasture and are out all night, coming home at 6am to be milked. Their cheese is also GM free.
Milk type: Cow
Style: Semi-soft washed rind
Flavour: Butter, hazelnut, meadow flowers when young, notes of earth, mushroom and hay develop as the cheese matures
Paste: Semi-soft, with small air holes through the paste body
Rind: Washed rind, faded orange/ pinkish/ beige rind, with powdery white bloom
Age: Large wheels 4-10 weeks plus, minis from 3 weeks plus
Format: 1.5kg rounds, 400g minis
Rennet: Traditional
Pairings: Aromatic whites: beer
Season available: Available all year
Made with raw milk: No
Milk type: Cow
Style: Smoked and flavoured cheese
Flavour: Mild and buttery with a light smoky note, (oak and beech wood used). 5-12 months for extra mature
Paste: Semi-hard with yellow body
Rind: Waxed black
Age: 5 weeks to 5 months, small 5 weeks-12 weeks extra mature 5 months to 1 year+
Format: 1.5kg rounds, 400g minis, 4kg extra mature
Rennet: Traditional
Pairings: Cider; Syrah
Season available: Available all year
Made with raw milk: No
